


In Renascentia Ánimam

by Zethsaire



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Angst, Awkward Conversations, Courtesan!Trowa, Depression, Drinking, M/M, Medicinal Drug Use, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, prescription marajuana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-09
Updated: 2013-09-09
Packaged: 2017-12-26 01:56:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/960223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zethsaire/pseuds/Zethsaire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heero doesn't talk about what happened to him – ever.  He mostly just wants to graduate from art school and pretend that he's a real person.  Duo is the only reason he is even half-way successful. (Modern day college AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Renascentia Ánimam

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for the Gundam Wing Reverse Big Bang 2013. You can find the work this fic was based on [here](http://isuimi.deviantart.com/art/Art-School-399101040)
> 
> Warnings: See tag list. Also, language. I must stress the angst. There is a happy ending, but Heero is not a happy person, even in this AU. (The non-con is off screen, but still mentioned enough to potentially be triggery. Read with care.)
> 
> Beta'd by the lovely DangerousCommieSubversive

“Hey, Heero, are you in here?”

Heero blinked a couple of times, letting Duo's words pull him out of the deep trance he'd been in. He'd almost punched one of his classmates earlier, when they'd consistently invaded his personal space. After his class had finished, he'd come straight back to their dorm room, smoked a joint, and when that hadn't been enough to calm down, had meditated for the last – he looked at the clock – two hours.

“'M here,” he said, feeling much better. Between his prescription-strength weed and the meditation, he was completely relaxed. He'd probably have a bit of trouble focusing on his math homework, but he could put some time in at the lab to work on his latest sculpture piece. He always worked better when he was calm.

Duo dropped his bag by his desk, and flopped down onto the floor, where Heero was still sitting in the lotus position he'd been meditating in before. Duo reached out with one hand to ask permission, caressing Heero's jaw. When Heero nodded, he leaned forward and kissed him. The kiss was gentle, and Duo was careful not to completely block Heero in with his body. They'd only been dating for about a month, and hadn't gotten as far physically as either of them would have liked. Heero had serious intimacy issues, and even though he trusted Duo, there was just something about the idea of letting someone touch him that made his skin crawl.

Still, he was relaxed enough right now to enjoy Duo's kisses, and when his boyfriend gave his lips a parting caress, and then went to suck gently on his neck, Heero just groaned and let Duo touch him. His blood started to hum with desire underneath the lazy calm of his high. Duo was getting more enthusiastic too, since Heero hadn't asked him to stop, and dared one hand up underneath Heero's shirt. Heero flinched, but when Duo started to pull away, he put his hands on Duo's wrists.

“Don't stop.”

“Okay,” Duo replied, breathlessly, his hand pressing firmly against Heero's chest. His hand was warm, and left trails of sensation along the skin wherever he touched. Heero felt his pulse pick up, and leaned into Duo's touch.

Duo made a soft, pleased noise, and circled Heero's left nipple with his hand. Heero arched up into him, letting out a surprised groan. Duo moved back up to his mouth, and kissed him again, long and hard. Soon, Heero's shirt was pushed up under his armpits, both of Duo's hands roaming over his golden skin, Duo's tongue was in his mouth. Heero was practically glowing with pleasure, though part of that was the weed. He was actually having high hopes for not freaking out during their makeout session, when Duo pushed him gently to the floor so that he could rub against him enthusiastically.

Heero froze, every muscle in his body tensing together. Duo reacted almost as quickly, pulling backwards and letting him out of the cage of limbs he had been trapped in, muttering,

“Shit, shit, sorry. I didn't mean that, it just happened.”

Heero grit his teeth, and reached up to tangle his hand in Duo's shirt. He pulled himself up and deliberately settled into Duo's lap. Duo stared at him in shock, and Heero said, gruffly,

“I want to do this with you. We've been dating for a month and we haven't been able to get any farther than this. I'm not going to let my issues fuck this up.”

Duo opened his mouth to argue, and Heero just rolled his hips in response. Duo groaned, and put his hands back around Heero; one on his back, and one on his waist, rocking his own hips back up into Heero's. Heero pulled off his shirt, and placed his hands tentatively under Duo's shirt, moaning when Duo fastened his mouth to the hot spot on Heero's skin between his neck and collarbone.

Heero had never had sex before. He knew Duo had, but Duo was the first person that Heero had really felt close enough to to even try to have an intimate relationship with. They'd made out a little, Heero had given Duo a hand job, but he'd completely lost it when Duo tried to reciprocate. He really, really wanted to make this work. It felt good, and he really liked Duo, and besides all that, he had a serious hard on and really wanted to get off.

“I have no idea what I'm doing,” he admitted breathlessly, unable to help panting when Duo kept rocking.

“You're doing fine,” Duo said, licking up Heero's neck and making him shudder. “It feels good, right?”

Heero just groaned.

Duo grinned, and bent back down to kiss him vigorously. He pulled back and whispered in Heero's ear, “Then just enjoy it.”

He started a steady rhythm, not just the rubbing they were doing before, but a _thrusting_ , which felt better than Heero had expected it to. Heat started to curl in his groin, and he groaned, and tugged at Duo's shirt. Duo seemed more than happy to strip his shirt off, and then Heero pressed them together, sweat starting to trickle down between his shoulder blades as he rubbed against Duo, and kissed him, and held his hips as he jerked them together.

“Can we – this would be easier if -” Duo was panting now, and sweating with the effort of keeping them upright and retaining the rhythm he'd built up.

Finally Duo just lay down, and pulled Heero to the ground with him. Heero stiffened at first, but then relaxed when he realized he was on top, with just as much freedom to remove himself from the situation as before. If he wanted to, which, he really didn't. Their legs got tangled together, and now that Duo had something to _brace_ against, his thrusts picked up in earnest. Heero tried to last, because he knew Duo was quite a bit more experienced and he didn't want to disappoint him, but they'd never gotten this far before, and everything felt so _good_.

He heard this little cry, that he didn't realize until later that he'd made, and came. He honestly hadn't thought that coming with his clothes still on would be a very arousing experience, but laying there on top of Duo in his afterglow, while Duo whined and moaned and thrust against him harder, he found he really didn't care. He liked hearing the noises that Duo made, and even though it took Duo quite a bit longer to get off than it had taken him, he found he didn't mind.

They lay there on the floor together afterwords, and Heero reached over to the box under his bed and pulled out a joint and his lighter. The school couldn't keep him from smoking, since he had a prescription, but they didn't want him growing his own, or rolling joints in his room. Something about encouraging the other students, like they all weren't smoking already. But Heero bought the pre-rolled ones anyway, to keep the administration off his back, though it didn't stop him from sharing with Duo.

It was nice, laying there, smoking with Duo and floating in a cloud of calm. At least until the come cooled, and then he squirmed around at the unpleasant feeling. Duo smiled and told him to take a shower. Heero was tempted to ask Duo if he wanted to shower with him, but he wasn't that comfortable yet, no matter how much he wished he was. So he showered, and kissed Duo on his way out, making sure there was enough hot water for Duo to shower after him.

“I'm going to the studio,” he told Duo, as his lover stripped to shower.

“Okay. I'll stop by later and make sure you eat,” Duo said. Heero often got absorbed in his work, especially when he was high and forgot to eat, sometimes all day. Of course when he stopped working he was always ravenous, and would go out and binge eat fast food if there were no other options available on campus. Duo tried to remind him to eat in time for him to get to the cafeteria, where there were plenty of healthier vegetarian options than a deep fried veggie burger.

“Thanks. See you later.”

xxx

Heero put in his headphones and turned up his music, blocking out the sounds of a rowdy guys dorm with the cleansing sounds of rain, falling in a forest. The Miles Standish residence hall might have given them their own apartment-like living space, but the halls and lobby were still filled with other people, most of whom were too touch-oriented for Heero's taste. His hallmates had learned to avoid him unless he invited them over, which almost never happened, and they got out of his way when he left his apartment. The avoidance sometimes made Duo upset, even now, but Heero didn't know any other way to be.

He was nice and buzzed, everything sort of blurring by him, unimportant. He felt good, and relaxed, and for once didn't worry about hurting any of the other students who stood in the elevator with him, though he did stand in the very back corner, leaning his head back against the wall, and let the peace of the natural sounds wash over him. He rode the elevator up to the third floor, and then back down into the basement, where he could work in silence. Most students didn't like to work in the underground lab space, even though it was conveniently close to the kilns, because they felt that the lack of sunshine kept them from being able to see the outdoor, and felt closed off from inspiration.

Heero reveled in the silence. He checked in with the lab TA, and then went over to his workstation. He'd used the same corner space of the classroom since he'd started school here, and at this point, it was well and truly 'his' space. No one else ever used it, and he was able to keep all his tools here without worrying that anyone would disturb him. All the TAs knew him, and liked him, if only for the fact that he always cleaned up his own mess and never started trouble. They looked out for him, even if Heero couldn't have said they were friends, exactly.

It was just a matter of laying out all his tools, taking the tarp off his in-progress sculpture, spraying water over the clay, and then losing himself in the feel of the clay under his hands, the feel of the form, the frenzy of creativity buzzing in his head, disguised as tranquility under the power of the weed and his own meditation. Instead he harnessed that energy, forced it through himself, from out in the universe, through his brain, down through his fingers and out into the universe again in the shape and form and feel of flight. That was what this piece represented, embodied, resonated. Flight, and freedom and just a little touch of fear.

Duo came by some time later. Heero couldn't really tell how long it had been since he'd come down here to work, but it had apparently been long enough for the cafeteria to close, since Duo was carrying his dinner in take-out containers. He'd probably made Heero something, which made Heero smile slightly. Duo made amazing home-cooked meals, and if he didn't know his boyfriend had his own classwork to do, he'd beg Duo to cook for them all the time. Duo used all natural ingredients, and liked Heero's meat substitute well enough instead of actual meat, so he'd make vegetarian pastas, soups and salads for them, and they were always amazing. Occasionally Duo would grill fish, and even though it wasn't strictly keeping with his diet, Heero would eat that, too. He loved sushi, after all, and when they could afford it, he would go to the Asian market for fresh fish and roll the sushi himself.

Thinking about catching fish didn't really set him off, and he could eat sushi without dredging up horrible memories. Other meat triggered him differently; some days he couldn't even smell beef without thinking of blood and death. Remembering how he'd fought to the death, over and over, killing his fellow teenagers to slake the blood lust of older men. Remembering how he'd been trapped, with no way out, and even knowing that now did nothing to ease the deaths on his conscience. Even after he'd been found not guilty by a court of law, Heero hadn't felt absolution.

“Hey, you alright?” Duo's voice brought him out of the panic attack he hadn't even known he'd been having.

He stared down at his trembling hands, and then moved away from his sculpture, going to rinse them at the sink. He scrubbed clay out from under his nails, and tried not to think. Another spray of water and application of tarp would keep his piece wet enough until they finished their dinner. Heero mutely followed Duo back out into the student's lounge to eat, and found that it was mercifully empty.

Duo pulled him into a loose hug—close enough that he could take comfort in it, loose enough that he knew he could get away without hurting either of them, if he wanted to. “Thank you,” he said, his own voice hoarse.

“What triggered it?”

“I don't know.”

Duo didn't push, he just opened their dinner and handed Heero his salad full of vegetables and seeds and dried fruit, topped with a fat free vinaigrette. There were two pieces of home-made oatmeal bread as a side, and a mug full of home-brewed iced tea. Heero kissed Duo softly in thanks, and then settled in to eat. It was delicious, as always.

“You going to stay here and work tonight?” Duo asked, knowing full well he wouldn't leave the lab till the building closed for the night.

“Yeah. I'll be home later. Keep the hall light on for me?”

“Sure.”

They talked quietly about nothing in particular for the next twenty minutes, and then Heero stretched and went upstairs to smoke a joint with Duo. They weren't really supposed to smoke outside the room, but none of the Art TAs would tell on them; they all smoked weed too. Then he kissed his boyfriend thoroughly before going back down to work for the rest of the night.

By the time the building closed and he'd made his way back across campus to his dorm, it was past one in the morning. He had his least favorite class in the morning, too; figure drawing. He hated working with charcoal. It felt dirty and unrefined in his fingertips; he couldn't get the forms to come out no matter how hard he tried. The only reason he hadn't failed yet was because he turned every assignment in on time, and actually came to the lab for every figure drawing session. If he didn't pass the class, he wouldn't be able to continue studying sculpture. It was maddening.

Duo had left the light on like he asked, and Heero toed off his shoes at the door, flicked it off on his way past, and stumbled into their bedroom. Duo was asleep, taking up more than half the bed in his sleeping sprawl. Heero smiled, and stripped down to his boxers before climbing into bed with him. He'd always felt safe sleeping with Duo, which seemed at odds with all his other physical quirks. But Duo was warm and reassuring; Heero liked being able to hear his heart beat and the steady rhythm of his breath. It was comforting, and it chased some of his nightmares away. He pulled the covers up around both of them (Duo had managed to kick them half off already), and went to sleep.

xxx

“I can't figure this out,” Heero said, frustrated. “I turned in my last assignment and got a D on it. She wants me to 'feel the form' of the piece. Apparently I'm just supposed to 'understand' it, because I do sculpture. Why the hell do I have to take a drawing class anyway?”

“Everyone needs the basic core classes, Heero.”

“But _why_? They're freaking useless!”

Duo looked at him quizzically. “Heero, have you taken your meds today?”

Heero scowled. “I didn't have time. I had to get up early this morning for class and didn't have time to eat breakfast so I could take my meds.”

“You can't skip that shit, Heero! Missing a dose of anti-psychotics is serious!” Duo got up and went to the kitchen, grumbling expletives the whole way.

He returned with two pieces of toast, lightly buttered, and a tall glass of orange juice. He set them down, along with all of Heero's pills, and glared at him until Heero took them. “Technically,” Heero said, while he ate the toast and took his pills, “Only one of them is an anti-psychotic. The rest are for anxiety. And I told Oba-chan I didn't want to take them, but she believes everything the psychiatrist tells her.”

“But they help.”

“Weed helps more,” Heero scoffed. “And I went and got prescribed that on my own. I hate this crap, it makes me feel crazy.”

“You're not crazy.”

“Oh yeah? How many sane people do you know who have been taking anti-psychotics since they were seventeen?!” He can feel it, the unnatural rage that builds up when he skips his meds. He hadn't meant for it to happen, he just was having a really bad day.

“How many teens do you know who have a higher kill count than most army snipers?” he went on, not seeming able to stop. “Or whose own _fathers_ sold them off, night after night, so they could -”

Duo's strong arms came around him loosely, and he said, “Shh. You don't have to talk about that. I know you hate talking about that.”

“I do,” he murmured, realizing he was shaking.

“Come and lay down with me. We can look at this later. Go outside or something; get some fresh air.”

“Yeah. Okay.” He let Duo pull him to their bedroom, trying his hardest not to shake.

Duo lay down on the inside, against the wall, so Heero wouldn't feel trapped, and then motioned him to come and lay down with him. Heero crawled in as well, and then buried his face in Duo's shirt. He didn't cry; he never cried unless he was on withdrawal from his meds, but he _felt_ like crying. Everything was just so fucked up, and even after years and years of therapy and medication, Heero didn't see how it was ever going to get better. He still cringed at most touches, the smell of meat made him ill, and even _looking_ at a German Shepherd was enough give him a full blown panic attack.

He let Duo kiss him, for once, taking solace in Duo's touch, instead of cringing away from it. He kissed Duo back, slowly and passionately. They went slowly, without the frenzy they had the last time they'd made love. Heero didn't even come, he let Duo touch him and kiss him and hold him until his boyfriend came, gasping beside him. Then he put his arms around Duo and just laid there, trembling.

Nothing much else was accomplished for the day. Heero mostly stayed in bed, hovering between sleep and wakefulness. Duo called in sick to his classes, and stayed with him. He didn't crowd Heero, just letting him know that he was there; laying with him for a little bit, going out and doing chores, cooking them dinner that Heero didn't really feel like but ate anyway, and finally going to bed early when Heero didn't feel like staying up any longer.

They tried again the next day. Duo took Heero outside, to a nice little spot on the green that was out of the way of the normal foot traffic. He sat on a bench and spread out Heero's drawings in front of them, and then held up the one that had come back with a 'D.' Duo's brows furrowed in concentration, and Heero shifted with unease and embarrassment. Duo's sketches were flawless; he had an excellent sense of form, balance, and composition. Heero's sketches paled in comparison.

“Okay, Heero, I think I've figured out how I can help,” Duo said finally, putting down the sketch on the table and pulling out a charcoal pencil from his braid. “Do you mind if I draw on top of this?”

Heero shook his head.

“So, what she means about 'feeling the form,' basically, your figures don't have a sense of weight to them. They're relatively accurate line drawings, but they're very flat. If they were a sculpture, they'd be more like a wire piece, instead of a bust. Does that make sense?”

“Theoretically.”

“So what you do, is gesture, like this.” Duo moved his charcoal pencil very deliberately, changing the lines of Heero's sketch and making them rounder, fuller, and heavier on the side where a shadow would go. Then he smeared in a shadow line with his finger. “Now it looks like it has weight.”

Heero took the pencil from Duo, and tried it himself. It took him about two tries to get the right effect. “Why couldn't she have just _said_ that?!” he shouted, startling a group of girls who were passing by.

“Art professors like to be pretentious. I don't know why; maybe it makes them feel more...artsy or something. It's just something you have to deal with.”

“I plan on always saying exactly what I mean,” Heero said flatly.

Duo grinned. “That's one of the things that's great about you. You don't try to hide behind any of this ostentatious avant-guarde or art noveau crap.”

“You...like that about me?”

“I really do.”

xxx

“Trowa and Quatre are coming over,” Duo informed him the next day, when he got back from class.

Heero strongly considered smoking three joints and going to the lab for the rest of the night. Then he wouldn't have to deal with it. It wasn't like there was anything wrong with Quatre and Trowa, exactly. It was just that they were Duo's friends, and not Heero's. Not that he had any friends. Also, they were together, and very open about their relationship, and Quatre was, well, flaming. Trowa was too, in his own way. He didn't actually go to school here; he just lived with Quatre, who was rich enough to own most of Portland, if he wanted to. Apparently Trowa had been a contortionist in the circus, but he'd met Quatre and now he didn't do anything, as far as Heero knew. They were just very...they made him uncomfortable.

At the same time, he didn't think that Duo should stop seeing them, just because they made him uncomfortable. Hell, _everything_ made him uncomfortable. And he really wanted to be a part of Duo's life, not just the boyfriend he had on the side because said boyfriend couldn't handle interacting with the rest of his life.

They'd brought Thai food, for which Heero had to give them points. He loved Thai food, and he was certain Duo had told them to bring it in an attempt to help him feel included. There was also Sapporo, which was technically Japanese beer, but it was Heero's favorite, and he couldn't help but giving them both a small smile when he went to the kitchen to get food. He stayed out of their way, especially since Trowa and Quatre seemed to enjoy giving exuberant hugs, which Duo returned in kind.

He settled on the couch next to Duo, Quatre and Trowa taking the chair next to them; Quatre on the chair, and Trowa draped languidly across his lap. Trowa made everything look sensual, even eating Thai food from a takeout box. He smiled and added tidbits to the conversation, but mostly just made himself a sexy, gay centerpiece to the room. Quatre wasn't shy about showing him off either, his free hand finding its way to Trowa's waist or hip or thigh. It gave Heero mixed feelings. On the one hand, Trowa was extremely attractive, and he couldn't help being a little aroused by the sight of those long, lean legs on display in front of him. On the other hand, it stirred up unhappy memories, and he found himself mostly staring at Duo, or the ceiling, for the duration of their dinner.

After they'd finished eating, and Duo and Quatre had caught up, Quatre booted up Duo's PS3 and popped in Call of Duty, which he'd brought with him. Duo gave Heero this sidelong look, as if he was asking if the violent game was going to bother Heero. Heero gave a tiny shake of his head, and got more beer, this time, filling up a chilled glass mug with it. He wasn't really supposed to be drinking on the kind of medication he was on, but it was his favorite, and there wasn't really anything else he could do to salvage the evening. As long as he didn't play himself, and just sat on the couch with his head in Duo's lap, he shouldn't have too much trouble acting like a normal human being.

Really, he should have known better than to think he could make it through an entire night without incident. He'd just gotten up to get more food, crossing the living room behind the seats, to avoid contact, and stepped in front of their sound system. Amid the shots and screams of the game, the snarls and barks of a pack of dogs erupted out of the speaker, and scared the shit out of him.

“Fuck!” Heero startled badly, dropping his glass. It shattered, and beer splashed across the wood floor. His whole body was trembling, the room closing in around him. He could hear his pulse in his head, hammering fast, his breaths loud in his ear. Black spots swam in his vision. He thought that Duo was trying to talk to him but he couldn't hear him. All he could hear were dogs snarling and see blood and pain and death.

He lashed out when someone tried to take his arm, part of him knowing that they were just trying to help him, but the rest of him reacting to the memory. With an abrupt 'pop,' the sound shut off, and Heero fell to his knees, even as beer soaked into his pants and glass ground against his thick jeans. Everything still sounded hollow, but Heero was able to hear Duo's voice, and didn't flinch this time when Duo put a tentative hand on his shoulder. He was still shaking, but he let Duo pull him up off the floor and lead him away from the broken glass.

Duo maneuvered him back onto the couch and stripped him out of his pants, checking his skin for glass shards before covering him up with a blanket. Heero curled up into it, trying to concentrate on his breathing, trying to will the memories back down in his consciousness. He was probably making an ass out of himself, but he didn't have the strength to care. His hands wouldn't stop shaking.

There was no sense of time after that. Heero's world sort of wavered around him, until Duo came over and whispered that he was going to go say goodbye to Trowa and Quatre. That sort of snapped Heero out of it, enough to shake off the worst of the panic attack and try to sit up and gain some kind of composure.

“I'm sorry I ruined your evening with them.” Heero said quietly, when Duo came to lay on the couch with him.

“I'm not angry. You're a lot better than you used to be.” Duo tried to put his arms around him, and Heero just sat there, stiff as a board.

“I'm not better! I'm not better and I'm never going to get better. At best, I'll become functional. I can't – I don't know if I can live with that.”

“I don't _care_ Heero. I mean, I do, I do care about you, so fucking much I can't even breathe sometimes. But I don't care if you're never a perfect human being, if we can't go out to clubs or big parties. That's not even my life any more. If you feel more comfortable staying in, we'll stay in, and watch movies and eat popcorn and I'll make pizza from scratch. If you want to go outdoors, we'll go hiking or camping out somewhere there's no other people and smoke a bunch of weed and just...be. You know? I don't care what we do I just – I just want to do it with you.”

Heero was quiet for a moment, leaning back into Duo's chest, finally, finally relaxing and accepting Duo's words. “Did you just propose to me?”

“Uh-”

“Because we've only been dating for a couple months.”

“Well, I, um. If I did – would that be a problem? Hypothetically, I mean.”

“Did you hear me saying no?”

Duo broke out in an enormous grin and hugged him; tight enough to let him know he cared, loose enough that he could get out of the hold if he wanted to. They kissed enthusiastically for several minutes before Duo broke away and flushed, like he was embarrassed.

“So...if I hypothetically already got you an engagement ring, would you ah, think that was girly?”

“Depends. How girly is it?”

Duo practically leapt up off the bed. He went over to his desk and opened the drawer he always kept locked and Heero had never picked in an attempt to give his boyfriend privacy. There was some rustling around, then Duo was locking it back up again and holding out a slim, black box to him.

Heero opened it, and looked inside. Inside was a silver ring set with an emerald. It was a little girly; but the loops and whorls in the ring resembled a Celtic knot, which Heero wasn't immediately opposed to. And the stone itself was a simple round cut, nothing fancy, no girly glittering diamonds or anything. He held it out for Duo to put the ring on his finger.

Duo looked like he might cry as he lifted the ring out and slid it onto Heero's left ring finger. It was beautiful, and Heero decided then and there that he didn't care if it wasn't strictly masculine. He hadn't ever put much stock in other people's opinions anyway, and he loved it. It was such a little thing, but it made him feel wanted. You didn't go out and buy a ring like this for someone you didn't really care about.

“How long – when did you buy this?” It was expensive, Heero knew, even if it was silver and not white gold, not that he cared either way.

“I um. Well, I've had it since before we started dating, actually. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you since I came back to California to get you. Why do you think I worked so hard to get your grandparents to let you move out here with me?”

“But I was a wreck then.”

“You were still beautiful.”

“You're a sap. You know that, right?”

Duo's only response was to kiss him. Heero found that he was surprisingly okay with that.


End file.
